ELDFJALL

E L D F J A L L

CD. Released on TOUCH, London 2005
Released on TOU

This album consists of recordings of subtle volcanic vibrations in the earth around the area of Krisuvik, Geysir and Myvatn in Iceland
These very condensed, pulsating and trembling sounds from underneath the the earth's surface were captured using accelerometers placed below the surface of the earth at various places around the geysers where they picked up sonic characteristics of volcanic activity right below their volcanic crust.

"Kirkegaard's album is an absolutely effective portrait of the chaos that generated everything, a meeting point for vital and destructive forces, threatening and regenerating at the same time."
From 'Blind Sound' by Daniela Cascella. 'Sound Art', Resonance Magazine, London June 2005

Excerpt from Jacob Kirkegaard - Eldfjall, live at Tonic / Share, New York City, 2004

ELDFJALL tracklist:

Ala
Gaea
Nerthus
Coatlicue
Al-Lat
Aramaiti
Izanami
Kali
Gerd

1) Ala
Nigeria. Earth Goddess, Creator Goddess and Queen of the Dead. She is the daughter of the supreme god Chuku and is considered to be the mother of all things. She is both the goddess of fertility and the goddess of death. She gives birth in the beginning and welcomes the dead back to her womb

2) Gaea
Greek Earth Goddess. Love (Eros) was born in the darkness. Love which softens hearts brought forth the light. Once there was light and day, then appeared Gaea, the earth goddess. She is the mother of the Titans. Nyx (night), Erebus (darkness), Tartarus (the underworld) and Gaea (earth) are the children of Chaos. Chaos was made of Void, Mass, and Darkness in confusion. Then Earth, in the form of Gaia, came into existence. Gaea - Mother Earth, Mother of the Gods, the Deep Breasted One, Oldest of Divinities

3) Nerthus
Norse Earth Goddess , nude with naughty bits of over-generous proportions. She resided on an island, where a statue of her rested in a cart. Each year, Nerthus, embodied in the statue, was drawn in an ox-cart in a sacred procession among the tribes. During this time all fighting stopped, and all weapons and tools were locked away until Nerthus completed her journey. Her visit was a time of festivity as the goddess brought prosperity and abundance to the earth. When her statue was returned to her island sanctuary, it was ritually cleansed by celebrants, who were then sacrificed to Nerthus, as they were believed to be unable to live a normal life after contact with her sacred image

4) Coatlicue
Aztec Earth Goddess and monster. In the darkness and chaos before the Creation, the female Earth Monster swam in the waters of the earth devouring all that she saw. Coatlicue's lower part then rose to form the heavens and her upper part descended to form the earth. Coatlicue has an endless, ravenous appetite for human hearts and will not bear fruit unless given human blood. Her snake heads represent the duality perceived in all things

5) Al-Lat
Arabian Earth Goddess representing the earth and its fruits. A mythic figure of great antiquity she is the trinity of desert goddesses named in the Koran; Al-Uzza (goddess of the morning star) and Menat (goddess of fate and time) being the others

6) Aramaiti
Iranian Earth Goddess, Whose language was the original language of the Christian Gospels. Mother of the People made of Clay. She was the Potter who not only fashioned figures from clay, but also breathed into them the animating energy

7) Izanami
Japanesee Earth and Darkness Goddess. Izanagi and Izanami - the creator god and goddess sent from heaven to build the earth. When Izanami gave birth to the fire god she was burned to death and descended to the underworld old and ugly. Izanagi went to retrieve her but she would not let him look at her. He looked away and she tried to imprison him in the underworld, but he escaped and sealed the entrance, locking her in. She vowed to kill 1000 of his subjects everyday, and he vowed to create 1500 a day. Thus Izanami became the Goddess of Death and Izanagi the God of Life. Izanagi pronounces the sacramental formula for separation between them, and then goes up to heaven, while Izanami goes down forever into subterranean regions. She becomes the Goddess of the dead, as is generally the case with chthonian and agricultural goddesses, who are divinities of fecundity and, at the same time, of death, of birth, and of re-entry into the maternal bosom

8) Kali
Hindu Earth Goddess, Black Earth Mother, Conqueror of Time, Goddess of fertility, death and regeneration. Dark Mother, Hindu triple Goddess of creation, preservation and destruction. Birth and Death Mother. Treasure house of Compassion, Giver of Life to the World. A triple Goddess - Maiden, Mother, Crone. Lady of the Dead. The Ocean of Blood at the beginning and end of the world. Also known as Jagadamba. Kali, fiercest of the great goddesses, loves the cremation ground, dances on her husband's body, drinks blood dripping from severed heads

9) Gerd
Norse Earth Goddess, a beautiful giantess, the wife of Freyr and daughter of the giant Gymir. She is the personification of the fertile soil. She was so beautiful that the brightness of her naked arms illuminated both air and sea.
Gerd never wanted to marry Freyr and refused his proposals. Freyr sent his messenger Skirnir to woo her, but he did not succeed in winning her over with the eleven golden apples and the ring Draupnir he had with him. Eventually Skirnir threatened to use Freyr's sword, which would cover the earth in ice, and powerful magic which would doom Gerd's life to misery and sadness. She finally agreed to meet Freyr in a wood, nine days hence, and later became his wife.